Fuel and emissions savings: masters vs AI-driven voyage optimisation

Siemens Energy has saved some shipowners around US$500,000 on fuel by using digitalisation to optimise energy consumption on ships and other assets.

It manages complex, large fleets for owners using digital twins, performance monitoring, real-time data and analytics, and energy information processing and optimisation.

“We can take care of the full lifecycle of the fleet,” said Siemens Energy product manager for maritime and offshore digitalisation, Patrick Mueller. “We are using lot of technology solutions, cyber security, asset safety and integrity.”

This includes improving the uptime of vessels, maintenance of machinery, and optimising onboard energy consumption during voyages and in port.

In an example of what is possible from digitalising a vessel or fleet, Mr Mueller said one owner had saved around US$500,000, or 4 kilotons (kT) of fuel or 4,700 tonnes CO2, per year from a vessel that uses about 31 kT per annum. These fuel savings are from using shore power while in port and EcoMain vessel optimisation during voyages.

Deltamarin, as a naval architect, has proven energy efficiencies of up to 50% are possible using various fuel-saving technologies, such as wind sails, controllable-pitch propellers, solar panels, power take-in and power take-out units, shaft generators, batteries, ultrasound antifouling and air lubrication.

For an ultra-large bulk carrier sailing on regular routes, it would be practical to cut the in-built average propulsion power 6 MW to 3 MW, said Deltamarin research and development manager Mia Elg.

This is based on routes provided by Cargill and implementing most of these energy-saving technologies on a newbuild. “Up to 40-50% energy savings are possible with technology combinations,” said Ms Elg. This is versus a baseline of not using any of them.

“It is not just about technology, but how they work together and then optimise the machinery.”

These technologies can be used in vessel retrofits to benefit from energy optimisation.

“When looking at decarbonisation, it is important to look at the operational profile and external forces acting on the ship,” said Ms Elg. “We can simulate the ship and analyse the machinery, and we can use digital twins during the lifetime.”

Webinar poll results

Attendees were asked to vote on a series of poll questions during the webinar. Here is a summary of the results.

What is most important in a digital platform?

Real-time optimisation: 21%

System integration: 23%

Ease of use: 25%

Proven results: 31%

How do you prioritise digital investments?

Fuel efficiency gains: 51%

Maintenance optimisation: 10%

Regulatory compliance: 22%

Operational visibility: 17%

What is your biggest digital transformation challenge?

Data integration: 43%

Cyber security: 13%

Return-on-investment validation: 23%

Staff adoption: 21%

How do you currently optimise vessel routeing?

Advanced AI solutions: 13%

Traditional weather routeing: 54%

Manual planning: 33%

What is your biggest challenge with voyage optimisation?

Weather forecast reliability: 29%

Real-time data integration: 26%

Performance validation: 21%

Operational constraints: 24%

When evaluating complex decarbonisation solutions, what matters most?

Proven technology interaction: 48%

Operational flexibility: 18%

Simple maintenance: 9%

Clear performance metrics: 25%

What do you see as the biggest barrier to adopting multiple energy-saving technologies?

Initial capital cost: 51%

Operational complexity: 16%

Technical reliability: 5%

Performance validation: 28%

(Source: Riviera)

On Harnessing data and nature: cutting maritime emissions through advanced technology webinar panel were: (left to right) Deltamarin research and development manager Mia Elg, Siemens Energy product manager for maritime and offshore digitalisation, Patrick Mueller, and Syroco sales manager Kevin Ouadec.